


Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you

by CelesteFitzgerald



Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: M/M, POV Second Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 16:20:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14312535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelesteFitzgerald/pseuds/CelesteFitzgerald
Summary: His schemes may be the most exhilarating parts of your days, but it’s the moments in between that mean the most.





	Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the song New Year's Day by Taylor Swift (which I may or may not have listened to on repeat while writing).

You’re not quite sure why you stayed that day. Routine, maybe—spending your summer days with him was second-nature by now. So what if you were hanging up banners or blowing up balloons instead of breaking out of cages and blowing up machines? He so badly wanted this birthday party to be perfect for Vanessa; you couldn’t be the one to take that from him.

He told his stories again, giving you that window into his past, into his mind. But these were different. There was no spite; only love. He told you about the first time Vanessa smiled, the first time her tiny hand squeezed his finger—he complained that he couldn’t get her to let go, but the warm smile on his face told you that he hadn’t really wanted her to. He told you about her first steps, when she finally let go of Charlene’s hands and took those three tiny-but-huge steps right into his arms.

He told you about the first time he made her cry. This was the one that spoke to you the most. He always tried so hard to maintain his evil persona, uncaring about everyone, eager to inflict hardship. But the way his smile broke as he recalled his daughter’s tears directed at him and him alone, how she ran from him, screaming out “I hate you….” You had never seen this side of him, showing his love and pain so openly—but it was the love that struck you the most.

You saw now why he needed this party. Why he threw his heart and soul into it, setting up decorations from her favorite childhood shows, in her favorite colors. Why he kept anxiously asking you if she would like it.

With a father like him, how could she not?

It didn’t go exactly as planned, but then again, did _anything_ when it came to Heinz? You watched Vanessa take in the sight of the firecracker’s re-decorating. Her jaw dropped, her eyes widened. You held your breath.

You weren’t expecting the swell of pride that rushed over you as her lips gradually turned upward. She surprised you when she turned toward you, _thanked_ you. But Heinz was the one she should have thanked. It was his hard-work, his plan. You wouldn’t have been there if he hadn’t invited you in. You were glad he did.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~

You hadn’t really planned on staying the next time either. One of the tools had fallen out of your hat; you were just returning to retrieve it, that’s all. You grabbed it from the balcony and turned to leave.

You only saw him out of the corner of your eye. He was inside, with his back to you, sweeping up the remains of his latest creation. He wiped his forehead, and sunk to the floor to rest for a moment. He looked toward the glass of lemonade sitting on the table across the room. His shoulders dropped.

You wrung your hands. Then you stepped inside.

You’ll never forget the way he looked at you when you handed him the lemonade.

You took a seat next to him for a moment, letting him rest. He finished the lemonade and traced the rim of the glass with his finger. You watched as he opened his mouth a few times, but no words came out. You gave him a tentative smile.

He sighed. And smiled back.

With you holding the dustpan and him holding the broom, you got to work. Now and then you held up a particularly large piece of debris in your hand, amazed that something shaped so strangely could in fact be useful. His eyes lit up as he took the piece from you, explained how it worked, and stored it away to be repaired and used again later.

For as often as you interacted with his inventions, this was the first time you saw how much thought went into each and every design choice. To think that he went to all that trouble every morning, knowing full well that he was destined to start from scratch the next day…Heinz was truly spectacular.

Why couldn’t more people see it?

Too soon, the two of you finished cleaning. You looked at the apartment once more, and turned to leave.

He grabbed your hand.

You froze, and looked at him. He avoided eye contact, but whispered a thank you.

You squeezed his hand before finally heading home, a smile on your face the whole way.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~

Over time, the two of you fell into a new routine. The thwarting remained the same, but as soon as he finished cursing you, the atmosphere changed. He smiled as he tossed you a pair of gloves and a rag for scrubbing the explosion-stained patches on the floor.

With his Inators destroyed and his schemes foiled, you thought he would have been upset during these times, the way he was when you looked in at him on that first day. But he wasn’t. He seemed…calm. At ease. Happy, even. Not the adrenaline-rush happiness from his schemes, but a more genuine happiness.

This type of happiness must be contagious.

Then, once you had finished cleaning on one particularly hot day, he stopped you as you were leaving. He had noticed that you were out of breath and was already on the way to his fridge to grab you a glass of water. He noticed the ice cream as he was grabbing a few ice cubes.

Pulling out the carton, he offered some to you. You worried for a moment about staying away from your family even longer than you already had, but you decided that a few more minutes couldn’t hurt.

The first day it was ice cream. The next it was a game of cards. Then popcorn and a movie. (You couldn’t have said which movie—you spent most of the hour and a half asleep against Heinz’s shoulder.) In retrospect, there was no reason to worry about leaving your family for too long. As you pulled out your wallet, flipping through the photos of you and Heinz for the third time that day, you knew that the time you spent with your families wasn’t shrinking, it was growing.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~

You’re not sure when exactly you fell in love, but the ‘when’ didn’t matter.

What mattered was the way he hummed in satisfaction as he licked the extra cake batter from the spoon you held up to his mouth after pouring the rest into the pan.

What mattered was the way he smirked as he splashed water onto you, no matter how many times you reminded him that you couldn’t dry the dishes with a wet towel.

What mattered was the way you reached for his hand at the end of a long day, and the way he sighed as he squeezed your hand back. He always stubbornly refused to be the first to let go.

You still might not be sure where this adventure with Heinz was taking you, but you did know one thing: you weren’t letting go either.

**Author's Note:**

> My first attempt at writing in 2nd person POV. Honestly it never would have occurred to me to ever write anything in 2nd person if it wasn't for revenblue's writing, so thank you for the inspiration :)


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